tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8124074671382472592020-05-27T00:59:01.324-07:00ArtsPlace SLArt Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.comBlogger306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-82106528928213137172009-12-14T08:40:00.000-08:002009-12-14T08:46:45.774-08:00Thoughts on discussions around SL in learning<p>Dave White (of the University of Oxford) has just shared a brief set of <a href="http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddhvr6jn_10ghssznf7">reflections on the Virtual World strand of the JISC online conference 2009</a>. As he says:</p><br /><br /><blockquote><i>[It] strikes me that Virtual Worlds have become the touchstone for larger themes around technological-determinism and the role of tech in education in general. Despite many examples of the effective use of SL in teaching the debate always seems to move back to these broad areas. In my opinion this is a healthy debate and one which I have seen emerging from a number of quarters recently. However, it does tend to overshadow discussion around genuine practice.</i></blockquote><br /><br /><p>I can't comment directly on the discussions because they were held behind the closed doors of a paid-for online conference - I thought the point of online conferences was that they were supposed to open up debate... oh well - but the notes are worth a quick look.</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-78968065162154192602009-12-09T07:27:00.000-08:002009-12-09T07:32:38.872-08:00Lag... and how to help prevent itHi... I haven't posted here for some time!<br /><br />My recent (somewhat minimal) experiences of Second Life have all been rather laggy, which I tend to put down to my home broadband connection being a little sluggish. But it is possible there are other reasons, like the hard disk on my home machine being over-full.<br /><br />For a great set of suggestions for how to improve SL performance see <a href="http://joelfoner.com/2009/12/8-ways-to-make-low-perf-computer-second-life-faster/">10 Ways To Make Second Life™ Run Faster On Your Low Performance Computer</a>.<br /><br />Well worth a quick read.Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-54750844474330665412009-07-31T03:33:00.000-07:002009-07-31T06:27:33.271-07:00Nature to charge for SL conference attendance<p>Nature are streaming the <a href="http://network.nature.com/people/joannascott/blog/2009/07/30/science-online-london-conference-live-in-second-life">Science Online London conference live in Second Life</a>, organised jointly with Mendeley and the Royal Institution.</p><br /><p>Nothing unusual about that of course. What's interesting is that they are charging £10 (that's about (US)$16 or L$4100) to attend for the day.</p><br /><blockquote><i>Attendance will cost the princely sum of 10 GBP/15 USD to cover costs and will give virtual attendees access to the island for the whole day as well as an opportunity to ask the speakers questions – we will have a member of staff in the audience to get your questions to the speaker just like the RL attendees.</i></blockquote><br /><p>I'm sure this isn't a first but it'll be interesting to see how it works out in terms of uptake. The cost itself doesn't look to be too unreasonable.</p><br /><p>The RL event is happening in London (UK) on August 22nd 2009. UK time will probably make this a tricky event to attend for some people.</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-192287248318103442009-06-29T02:56:00.001-07:002009-06-29T03:02:41.217-07:00Theatron 3 website<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SkiROO5c0hI/AAAAAAAAAc4/p6UltF8ni18/s1600-h/Pompey.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SkiROO5c0hI/AAAAAAAAAc4/p6UltF8ni18/s200/Pompey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352687830833091090" /></a>I'm very pleased to say that the <a href="http://cms.cch.kcl.ac.uk/theatron/">Theatron 3 project</a>, which we funded last year, now has a website detailing the theatres that have been created by the project and some of the ways in which they can be used for teaching and learning.<div><br /></div><div>Good stuff...</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-15271200573510321902009-06-02T05:57:00.000-07:002009-06-02T06:40:02.072-07:00Faithless<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SiUrgBBamqI/AAAAAAAAAcw/newh1bvMt7U/s1600-h/art-pray.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 168px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SiUrgBBamqI/AAAAAAAAAcw/newh1bvMt7U/s200/art-pray.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342724361975143074" /></a><p>I haven't been into Second Life for a while now... I'm not exactly sure why but I guess you could say that I've fallen out of love with it for various reasons. If nothing else, I have little work-related reason to spend time in-world and that means it is difficult to find time for it.</p><p>I don't actively dislike it but I don't like it enough to keep going back right now. That situation may change... on the other hand, it may not.</p><p>In <a href="http://fuzzybuzz.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/linden-lab-needs-to-read-snow-crash-again/">Linden Lab needs to read Snow Crash again</a> Fuzzysoul argues that Linden Lab aren't working hard enough to <span style="font-style:italic;">transform SL into the premier platform for education and business conferences</span> (their stated goal). I think I agree and I also agree with the analysis of the inherent problems caused by the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">teleport anywhere</span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">economy based on land value</span> approaches that LL have adopted. I'm less convinced by the argument for better facial features - but maybe that's just because my imagination isn't very good. My favorite avatar remains my original, default-skin one :-(</p><p>For me, and I say this with a certain amount of hindsight, the most valuable and fun experiences in Second Life were those associated with meetings and events (particularly hybrid RL/SL events). Yet, as a platform for collaboration and communication, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">SL sucks</span> in many respects. This is partly a personal view, but I know from having stood up in meetings and said this that others agree with me, voice destroys the immersive aspects of SL yet chat is hopeless for most kinds of serious conversation. </p><p>Until this is resolved SL with struggle to be a compelling place for collaboration. Our avatars are either an extension of our real selves or they are pseudonymous alter-egos. If the former, then voice will work fine (it seems to me) but I don't think SL is currently set up to support that kind of mentality (why give avatars non-RL names for example). If the latter, let's accept that chat will remain the predominant communication channel and recognise the collaborative limitations that result.</p><p>I want to believe in virtual worlds like Second Life but right now I'm struggling to hang on to my faith in them. Somebody please pray to the gods of the metaverse for me!?</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-21061411291269418682009-04-29T01:38:00.000-07:002009-04-29T01:41:18.430-07:00Orange education daysSomewhat belatedly (seeing as how the first day was yesterday!) but I note that <a href="http://www.orange-island.com/?p=1825">Orange have arranged a couple of interesting 'education in SL' days on Orange Island</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Note to self: it's probably worth keeping an eye out for future events.</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-70147412790134779292009-03-27T04:48:00.000-07:002009-03-27T05:17:01.474-07:00What is the Library of the Future?<p><span style="font-weight:bold;">JISC "What is the Library of the Future?" debate - attend in SL - Thursday 2 April 2009, 14.00 - 17.30pm (UK time)</span></p><p>The JISC are holding a BBC Question Time style event in Oxford next week discussing the future of the libray. 40 places are also available to attend and contribute virtually in Second Life.</p><p>Details about the Second Life venue will be emailed to you following registration.</p><p>Note that all delegates (including those attending virtually) are asked to provide a question for the panel as part of the <a href="http://www.jisc-events.co.uk/registration.vc.">registration process</a>.</p><blockquote><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/librariesofthefuture"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">What is the Library of the Future?</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />You are cordially invited to join the future of the library "Question Time" style debate to consider how researchers, learners and society at large can be best served by information into the future?<br /><br />JISC and Oxford University Library Services are jointly hosting a public question and answer debate in order to discuss what information and library provision mean in these changing times; technology has had a huge effect on the behaviour of both information consumers and service providers. What is the library and what do libraries need to do in order to support knowledge, innovation and society?<br /><br />The event will take place on Thursday 2 April 2009 in the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre, Department of Physics, University of Oxford from 2.00pm until 5.30pm. It will be followed by a reception in the Divinity School, Bodleian Library, until 7.00pm. We also have some Second Life places available.<br /><br />To register for your place at the event: </span><a href="http://www.jisc-events.co.uk/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">http://www.jisc-events.co.uk/</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Unable to attend but want to follow or interact with the event?<br /><br />The event will be amplified beyond the walls of the library:<br /></span><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Via the JISC </span><a href="http://librariesofthefuture.jiscinvolve.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">libraries of the future blog</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> - tag #LOTF09</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Via live web streaming on the day and available for download after the event;</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Via Twitter, tag #LOTF09</span></li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">All the links and feeds can also be found at the </span><a href="http://www.jisc.ac.uk/librariesofthefuture"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">libraries of the future home page</span></a><br /></blockquote>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-13138035570834606902009-03-11T08:08:00.000-07:002009-03-11T08:21:49.015-07:00World builder<p>Impressive short movie from Bruce Branit:</p><object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3365942&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3365942&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/3365942">World Builder</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1349603">Bruce Branit</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">World Builder was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production.</span></blockquote><p>Nothing to do with Second Life, except in the similarity of building techniques, and the fact that despite all the technology the resulting virtual world looks disappointingly like the real world :-)</p><p>[Via <a href="http://digitalurban.blogspot.com/2009/03/world-builder.html">Digital Urban</a>]</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-6792102782058100112009-03-09T04:58:00.000-07:002009-03-09T05:01:55.402-07:00TheatronNews from the Theatron project:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Looking for a place in Second Life for performance, a resource for the study of theatres, inspiration for creativity, or just a neat place to take a look at? Then you might want to take a look at </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Theatron/8/8/52">Theatron Island</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Theatron is a project run by King's Visualisation Lab at King's College London and funded by Eduserv. Seven theatres are available on the site; these are Theatre of Pompey, (Roman) Epidaurus, ( Greece , Greek and Hellenistic) Globe Theatre, ( London , Renaissance) Odeion of Pericles, ( Greece , Greek and Hellenistic) Piran Round, ( Cornwall , UK , Medieval Hellerau Festspielhaus, ( Hellerau , Germany , 20th C) Odeion of Agrippa, ( Greece , Hellenistic and Roman)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If you would like to arrange a visit, or book the space for a class, then please contact Mark Childs (mark.childs@coventry.ac.uk </span><http: com="" mc="" to="mark.childs@coventry.ac.uk"><span style="font-style: italic;"> ), IM Gann McGann inworld, or follow this SLURL to the </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Theatron/8/8/52">viewing platform</a><http: com="" secondlife="" theatron="" 8="" 52=""><span style="font-style: italic;">. Only one of the theatres is rezzed at any one time, but any of the other theatres can be rezzed on request.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Theatron Island is part of the Theatron Project, which also involves the UK Higher Education Academy's English Subject Centre and PALATINE , the Dance, Drama &amp; Music Subject Centre. Five other institutions from across the UK are performing and creating within the Theatron spaces. </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/explore/projects/archive/technology/tech23.php">More information</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> about the project is available </span><http: uk="" explore="" projects="" archive="" technology="" php=""><span style="font-style: italic;">and you can take a look at the findings as we develop them at our </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://theatron.wikispaces.com/">wiki</a><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span><http: com=""><span style="font-style: italic;"> A project website is under development and will be launched shortly.</span><br /></http:></http:></http:></http:></blockquote>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-29892614976648766442009-02-10T05:01:00.000-08:002009-02-10T14:55:31.198-08:00The ManualThis is the best SL resource I've seen for some time... <a href="http://www.cubistscarborough.com/theimanual/">The Manual</a>: a list of 81 in-world activities ranging from easy (#1) to hard (#24) and the sublime (#28) to the ridiculous (#50). Kudos to the guys at Leeds (@<a href="http://twitter.com/Kisa/status/1195272878">kisa</a> and @<a href="http://twitter.com/cubistscarboro/status/1195236595">cubistscarboro</a>) for pulling this stuff together.Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-80313530250542771052009-02-02T05:46:00.001-08:002009-02-02T05:48:53.359-08:00Facets of virtual worldsSarah Robbins' <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pgKqGR6eOiPOKjMG9f856Sw">Virtual Worlds Facet Study is now available as a Google spreadsheet</a>&nbsp;. &nbsp;There's a lot of material here, covering 70-odd virtual worlds, so it's well worth looking at.Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-54177220074460146982009-01-22T16:10:00.000-08:002009-01-22T16:18:38.431-08:00Tom Eckersley exhibition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SXkMjRXrMyI/AAAAAAAAAcU/_JVaV2ytQ5U/s1600-h/Snapshot_008.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SXkMjRXrMyI/AAAAAAAAAcU/_JVaV2ytQ5U/s200/Snapshot_008.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294276637048386338" /></a>As a spare time activity I'm putting together an exhibition of posters by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Eckersley">Tom Eckersley</a> for the ArtsPlace gallery on Eduserv Island. The posters, 24 of them, have been selected (and used with permission) from the <a href="http://www.vads.ac.uk/collections/TEC.html">Eckersley Archive hosted by the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)</a>.<div><br /></div><div>As with any activity like this in the UK, clearing rights over the images has taken a while but I'm grateful to staff at VADS for dealing with this side of things on my behalf.</div><div><br /></div><div>As you can see, I've got as far as uploading the images and plonking them onto poster sized prims. Note that I used <a href="http://picnik.com/">Picnik</a>, the online image manipulation tool, to add a frame to each poster. Now I need to get the sizes and aspect ratios correct, position them on the walls of ArtsPlace and create a notecard for each holding VADS catalog record for each of the selected posters. Shouldn't be too long, assuming I get my finger out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch this space...</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-82624745352236362392009-01-15T03:15:00.000-08:002009-01-15T03:22:36.314-08:00AudioStreaming Firecaster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SW8cPqInPcI/AAAAAAAAAcI/edi9h7I0blY/s1600-h/Snapshot_002.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 118px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SW8cPqInPcI/AAAAAAAAAcI/edi9h7I0blY/s200/Snapshot_002.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291479142517652930" /></a>When we hold RL events for which there is a SL audience we usually use voice-chat to carry audio from the live presentations to the SL delegates. I've always felt uncomfortable about using Art Fossett to carry this audio, even in those cases where it is Andy Powell who is speaking but particularly so in other situations.<div><br /></div><div>For tomorrow's <a href="http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/CETIS-Eduserv-VW2009">Maximising the impact of Virtual Worlds in Teaching and Learning</a> event in Glasgow I've created a new avatar, AudioStreaming Firecaster, just to carry the audio from the event onto Eduserv Island. AudioStreaming will be positioned just next to the slides (that Art Fossett will be displaying in-world in sync with the RL speakers' slides). That's leaves Art Fossett free to move around the SL venue as I see fit.</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-11009494719939790012009-01-12T05:33:00.000-08:002009-01-12T05:56:53.360-08:00Education Support Faire<p>Linden Lab have announced an <a href="http://blog.secondlife.com/2009/01/10/second-life-education-support-faire-january-25th-30th-2009/">education support faire</a>, to run for 6 days from the 25th to the 30th January 2009:</p><blockquote><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">To support the educational community, we would like to invite you to participate in and attend Linden Lab’s inaugural Education Support Faire! Over the years, Second Life has provided ways for the world of academia to put to use creativity lending to immersive education, distance learning, knowledge sharing, faculty networking–and many other ways to enhance the collective educational community’s efforts in the real world. The success of projects surrounding these efforts within Second Life can be attributed to the many innovative educators, academics, and students who have chosen to utilize Second Life for these purposes.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The main goal for the Education Support Faire is to bring together educators, academics, and students to explore the support mechanisms available to residents who use Second Life to enhance real world educational efforts.</span></p></blockquote>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-78461675635428288162009-01-06T04:43:00.000-08:002009-01-06T04:46:08.467-08:00Maximising the effectiveness of virtual worlds in teaching and learning<p>Those of you not attending the joint CETIS/Eduserv "<a href="http://wiki.cetis.ac.uk/CETIS-Eduserv-VW2009">Maximising the effectiveness of virtual worlds in teaching and learning</a>" event in person next week in Glasgow may like to note that we are planning on making the audio and slides of all the presentations available in real time on Eduserv Island in Second Life.</p><p>Audio will be made available using the SL voice chat facility and copies of all the speakers' slides will be visible in-world. We will also try and allow for questions to speakers from virtual delegates via text chat.</p><p>As virtual delegates you should make your way to the <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduserv%20Island/155/33/32">Virtual Congress Centre on Eduserv Island</a></p><p>Presentations start at 10.30am (2.30am SL time) though I suggest getting there a little earlier to test out audio, etc. You are welcome to drop in for only those presentations that interest you. The full programme is available at the first URL above.</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-46524110373886088202008-11-20T08:55:00.000-08:002008-11-20T08:58:29.499-08:00Lively not looking so lively anymoreLively - Google's chat room with knobs on - <a href="http://www.lively.com/html/shutdown.html">is to close</a>. I can't say I'm sorry - I didn't like it much anyway! But I am a little surprised. Not because I thought it was good enough to stick around but because I thought Google might have the will, and the effort, to make it better.Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-12711372893834527752008-11-20T04:41:00.000-08:002008-11-20T08:40:06.464-08:00Object zero<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SSVcikODHnI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/7dHDsgOSZU8/s1600-h/Snapshot_001.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SSVcikODHnI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/7dHDsgOSZU8/s200/Snapshot_001.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270720687814942322" /></a><br />Hanging around in the <a href="http://www.open.ac.uk/relive08/">ReLive 08</a> area on Open Life where we briefly discussed <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">object zero</span> - the desire to tidy up your inventory such that there are no items called 'Object'.<div><br /></div><div>For the record... my inventory - which is quite small I think - is nowhere near!</div><div><br /></div><div>Notice the 'avatar wall' in the background - presumably representing all the delegates at ReLive 08. Nice.</div><div><br /></div><div>Would have been nice to have the video streams displayed in-world though - I don't understand why this didn't happen. The streams were in the right format and everything. Shame :-( It would have made it a much more immersive experience for those of us not able to be there in person.</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-32713840152194863662008-11-18T09:19:00.000-08:002008-11-18T09:22:55.907-08:00Voice surveyI'm not a big fan of voice in SL for various reasons. Just about the only time I use it is if I am giving an in-world presentation (usually to a group of avatars). Other than that I use chat.<div><br /></div><div>I note that Fleep Tuque is currently running a survey about people reaction to and use of voice in Second Life:</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">We are inviting you to tell us about your experiences in Second Life as part of a research study. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Since Linden Lab released voice communication options in August, 2007, some residents have chosen to use it and other have not. The following </span><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=MqlvfTUehk0ktUrKatu1eA_3d_3d"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">survey</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> will help us understand how you communicate with others in-world. The results of this questionnaire will help give advice to new residents and provide a better understanding of your experiences in-world as current residents. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">It should only take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Even if you did not use voice, please consider giving us your feedback.</span></div></blockquote><div></div></div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-62649223543280913272008-11-11T06:21:00.001-08:002008-11-11T06:27:08.085-08:00The Linden Prize<p>An <a href="http://lindenlab.com/lindenprize">interesting announcement from Linden Labs</a>, with a significant incentive to get busy:</p><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">The Linden Prize will award one Second Life Resident or team with $10,000 USD for an innovative inworld project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world. This annual award is intended to align with Linden Lab’s company mission, which is to connect all people to an online world that advances the human condition.</span></blockquote><p>Yes... that's USD not L$!</p><p>On the face of it, I think educational, healthcare or charitable projects in SL should stand a good chance, given that all three use Second Life to bring about change for the better in the real world.</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-27493857114110440892008-11-05T08:59:00.000-08:002008-11-05T09:02:18.122-08:00Club Penguin<p>Again from the virtualworlds@jiscmail.ac.uk mailing list:</p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Thursday 6th November at 8am SL time (4pm UK time) on Infolit iSchool. Children in a virtual world: Jackie Darkstone (Professor Jackie Marsh, Department of Education, University of Sheffield, UK in RL) will talk about her research into schoolchildren's use of the virtual world Club Penguin. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Location is <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/infolit%20ischool/131/243/21/">http://slurl.com/secondlife/infolit%20ischool/131/243/21/</a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">This is part of the regular CILR/ Infolit iSchool discussion series. </span></div></blockquote>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-35955277896738249572008-11-03T08:36:00.000-08:002008-11-03T08:38:53.529-08:00UK educators<div>From the UK virtualworlds@jiscmail.ac.uk mailing list:</div><div></div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Sheila Yoshikawa (Sheila Webber in RL) will lead an exploration of Sheffield University's island, Infolit iSchool, from the Departmental offices to the Hobbit House and beyond. Sheila will discuss the different types of space and their uses, the value of using prefabs, and issues concerned with embedding information in SL locations without leading to notecard hell. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Infolit iSchool has been used by Information Studies for a year (for teaching and educator/librarian discussions), and now Sheffield's Education Department has also started activities.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Monday Nov 10, 12 noon SL time (8pm UK time)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infolit iSchool/104/220/22/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infolit iSchool/104/220/22/</span></a></div></blockquote><div><a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Infolit iSchool/104/220/22/"></a></div><div><br /></div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-15842520182997220872008-10-21T05:42:00.000-07:002008-10-21T06:05:37.533-07:00YAOEE - yet another orientation experience for educators<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SP3O8ti0QbI/AAAAAAAAATs/9s8Cq70oIjk/s1600-h/Snapshot_012.bmp"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SP3O8ti0QbI/AAAAAAAAATs/9s8Cq70oIjk/s200/Snapshot_012.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259587482251706802" /></a>Linden Lab and ISTE have combined forces to launch a <a href="http://www.sl-educationblog.org/?p=308">new educators pilot programme</a> - essentially a new SL registration and orientation experience, targetted at educators.<div><br /></div><div>Quite nice... though I'm slightly struggling to understand how it differs from the work that <a href="http://artfossett.blogspot.com/2007/12/nmc-orientation.html">NMC put into their education orientation experience</a>?</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's my latest alt - Hughling Wulluf - created using the new facility (note that checking whether your chosen name is already in use is slightly tedious using this interface because you have to re-supply your password (twice) each time - I wanted Howling Wulluf but it wasn't available). Hughling is watching the introductory video in the new ISTE orientation area.</div><div><br /></div><div>Good to see that the <a href="http://www.sloodle.org/">Sloodle tools</a> are available in the resources area :-)</div><div><br /></div><div>As I mentioned when I reviewed the NMC orientation experience, one of the problems with this kind of generic approach (less generic than the main SL registration admittedly but still pretty generic) is that it doesn't cater well for national (or more local) requirements - there is nothing here specifically for UK educators for example. Should there be?</div><div><br /></div><div>One final thought... the most valuable part of any orientation experience is meeting and chatting to helpful people. When I used this new facility there was no-one around to talk to. So although the content I found was education-specific, the experience overall was rather disappointing. IMHO the most useful thing that these kinds of initiatives could do would be to create a rota of willing educational volunteers - people who are happy to hang around welcoming new avatars to the world. My guess is that doing so would have much more impact than new builds and resources. That said, I appreciate that setting this kind of thing up isn't going to be easy.</div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-85661093614319468282008-10-21T04:23:00.000-07:002008-10-21T04:36:06.654-07:00National Workshop in Learning in Immersive Worlds<div>Just in case you haven't seen this announcement via other routes... live footage of the <a href="http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/mcleang/weblog/1573.html">National Workshop in Learning in Immersive Worlds</a> will be streamed on to <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Coventry%20University/140/147/137/">Coventry Island</a> in Second Life on Thursday 23rd October from 10am (UK time).</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, I won't be able to be there because of other commitments :-(</div><div><br /></div>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-54407613367889390192008-10-17T09:21:00.000-07:002008-10-17T09:24:26.719-07:00Autumn 2008 snapshot of UK HE and FE developments in Second LifeThe lastest in our<a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/studies/slsnapshots"> series of UK snapshots</a> is now available, <a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/sl/uksnapshot102008">covering the period up until October 2008</a>. <br /><br />Enjoy!Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-812407467138247259.post-30148690854640542822008-10-15T10:20:00.000-07:002008-10-15T10:30:35.256-07:00Virtual World Watch<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SPYnyE3udwI/AAAAAAAAATk/Haf_3qdMDV4/s1600-h/Snapshot_011.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TQ_tuZMdyjw/SPYnyE3udwI/AAAAAAAAATk/Haf_3qdMDV4/s200/Snapshot_011.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5257433356256048898" border="0" /></a><a href="http://virtualworldwatch.net/">Virtual World Watch</a> is officially launched today - well, as 'officially' as we're going to get anyway! VWW will continue the <a href="http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/studies/slsnapshots">series of snapshots</a> that have been undertaken by Silversprite Helsinki (the latest of which will hopefully be made public tomorrow) as well as broadening the scope of the work to information about:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><ol><li>Alternatives to Second Life, especially alternatives that do not have some of the technological, logistical or financial hurdles that some feel Second Life to have.</li><li>What is currently being researched in the application of virtual worlds to education. The peer-reviewed publication system means it is difficult to determine current trends.</li><li>Where more research or survey data concerning virtual world use in education, or other such proof or evidence – of academic quality – can be found.</li></ol></blockquote><p>VWW is funded by the Eduserv Foundation.</p>Art Fossetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06036853556502498237noreply@blogger.com0